Parks Life

Slightly delayed last post from me for a bit.
Thanks again to everyone who turned up to run, marshal, spectate, help with set up / take down, timing and trophies.
The evening raised around £1400 for the Blue Box community group which is much appreciated. Hopefully one day, in the not too distant future, the race HQ will be the new community hub.

Pencil in the date for next year, Am aiming for the 16th May.

And don't forget the https://www.facebook.com/Derwentriverrelays/
on the 8th July

Thanks,
Parks Life

Derwent River Relays The Original and the best 4 x 5K Team Relay Race set in the Heart of Derbyshire in the beautiful mill town of Belper.

First set of photos from 2023's race. Thanks Ray for sharing thesem

I've had a walk round the course this morning. It's pretty well dried out now, so hardly any mud. Route is track, path, farm track, grass, buttercups and a small section of pavement. A few squeeze stiles, plenty or roots and trip hazards and a couple of ups and downs. Should be litter free as well but with it being a week later than last year the nettles are a bit higher.
Last day for pre-entry is today. Entry on the day will be available.

Four days to go till Parks Life, the bluebells are looking good and the weather forecast has taken a turn for the better. Pre entry closes Tuesday.

Only two weeks until Parks Life race day.

Am on my holidays at the moment so just a couple of points / reminders

Free parking can be had at the Coppice Car park off the Belper Market Place. You can access the Belper Parks straight from there and have a nice warm up as you go up to the recreation ground at the top. If you're running late there is a bit parking on park road.
Many under 18s wanting to run will need a parent/guardian signature.
No dogs allowed to race.
This is a race under FRA rules but am not expecting to stipulate any mandatory kit.
You will need to enter the race, wear a number and report back to the race organiser should you take your number but not complete the race.

Pre entry registration (scroll down for link) will be open till the 16th. There will be entry on the day available for a pound more.
Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend

Only four weeks now till Parks Life, and the numbers are in. Many thanks to The Derby Runner for providing them this year.
Some good news, the cake stall will be back again this year, also raising fund for the Blue box, so bring a spare pound or two for some vital refuelling.
Pre-entry available till the 16th, just scroll down a bit for the link.

Only five weeks to Parks Life 2023. Please do share this amongst your running groups/clubs. All proceeds to the Blue Box community group. And keep your eye on this page for any updates,
Thanks...and thanks The Derby Runner for the reminder...please do share this post. Much appreciated.

Under two months to Parks Life 2 and the pre entries are trickling in.

One of our entrants last year was Darren Fishwick, who was good enough to give us a mention in his Autumn Fell Runner Magazine article.
For those of you who aren't in the FRA or who didn't manage to read it, I've pasted the Parks life part of it below.

If you're not in the Fell Runner's Assoc. have a look at their website and see if you think the £16 membership is a good spend. You get three magazines a year and money off some of the races.
Thanks for the permission to republish the article Darren.
If anyone wants to read the full version let me know...

"
Parks Life Fell Race (Any references to the song Park Life by Blur within this ‘race report’ are completely coincidental.)

Our plans for the day: a leisurely morning in Shropshire then casually drive over to Derbyshire for the evening race. I do enjoy being away in the camper as I get up when I want. Except on days when I get rudely awakened by a noisy peacock. I put my trousers on, have a cup of tea and think about leaving the van. The weather’s good so I have breakfast outside and feed the pigeons, I also feed the sparrows too, it gives me a sense of enormous well-being. I then met our campsite neighbour for the first time. He was a talkative bloke, who for the foreseeable future will be living in his motor home as he’d recently separated from his wife. I was sympathetic towards his predicament but he just laughed and said, “my wife still misses me, but her aim is getting better”. His gallows humour made me chuckle. It’s fair to say he seemed very content with his current situation. Our conversation was then interrupted by the smell of cooked bacon wafting from his temporary abode. Without hesitation he rubbed his well rounded stomach, licked his lips and excused himself. I almost said “you should cut down on your pork life mate and get some exercise”. Instead I asked him to bring his breakfast outside and join us. He declined my offer as he gets intimidated by the dirty pigeons, they love a bit of him. We wished him well and before departing the campsite we had one last chat with the site owner. She told us that next week she’d be holidaying in France. I shouted “au revoir” when leaving the site. My wife called me pretentious. I replied “Pretentious? Moi?”. Alison smirked and said “oui”.

Parks Life fell race is located in the Derbyshire town of Belper. My only previous visit to the town was back in 2006 when I’d gone to watch a game of football. I nearly missed the start of the match which would’ve been particularly unfortunate as I’d walked there from home covering a distance of approximately 100 miles. I was accompanied every step of the way by Nellie my beloved border terrier. Our walk raised over a thousand pounds for my hometown club. Unfortunately the Chorley players hadn’t read the script and were outplayed in a 3-1 defeat. After the game we hitched a ride back to Chorley on the team bus; Nellie went to sleep and I nursed my aching feet. Thankfully at Parks Life fell race I arrived feeling far more refreshed. Some would say it’s got nothing to do with Vorsprung durch Technik. Well speaking from experience it’s certainly easier driving to Belper than walking to Belper. I also had time to spare so I watched some joggers; who go round and round and round the registration field. I was surprised with the turnout for this inaugural race. All the people, so many people, 123 to be exact. Personally I didn’t find the race technically hard by fell race standards but it’s a good runnable course that certainly raised my heart rate. Leaving me happy for the rest of the day, safe in the knowledge there will always be a bit of my heart devoted to Parks Life. Many thanks to race organiser Andy and all involved.

I hope to continue broadening my horizons. I’ve currently done 526 different fell races of which many are now simply a blur…know what I mean?
"

Happy New Year to all followers of this page.

The Parks Life race will be back in 2023 on the 18th May, get it in the diary. It is already registered with the Fell Runners Association and Amber Valley Council. Pre-entries should be available in March, but am planning to have entry on the day available as well. Route will be the same as 2022.

And the smiley ones. Mostly!

Middle group

First third of runners

Start line photos

Parks Life tomorrow.
A couple of things I don't think I've mentioned and a couple I probably have.
Registration will open at 6-ish, and will close a bit before 7 but please do allow plenty of time to pick your number up and have a warm up. Weather still looks good so we won't be standing around in the rain.
Cash only for payments please. Correct change handy.

Sorry not mentioned this before, but someone did ask, no dogs please, or ducks.

Cakes available after the race - bring an extra pound or two.

Grass on the Parks got a cut yesterday, thanks Amber Valley Borough Council.

See you tomorrow.

Five days before Parks Life.
The course is very dry still and there's not much rain in the forecast. The bluebells are out now in the woods and I've included a picture in case you're moving too fast to notice them on Thurs. In fact what would be a good idea is, if you are coming by car, park in the coppice car park off the market place and have a nice warm up through the woods.
I've been made aware of something else happening on the Parks on Thurs, which may make parking a bit of a premium on Park Road so is probably a good idea anyway.

Just a reminder its age 16+ to enter and U18s will need a parent/guardian signaturesigniature

Two weeks to go!
And the race numbers are in. Very kindly donated by Run Forest, a place where not only can you get some top running gear, but where they will also serve you a fine coffee whilst you browse. Thanks Mike.

Four weeks till Parks Life race day.
Couple of things I'd like to mention.
Entrants must be 16+ and U18s will need to provide a Parent's/Guardian's signature. This can be done on the day or I can email out a pre-entry for to print off.

As mentioned all entry fees will be going to the Blue Box charity, see their website to find out more about what they do
https://www.blueboxbelper.co.uk/
and there will also be a cake stall available so do bring along a bit of extra change for a bit of post race refreshment. Proceeds from that also going to the Blue Box.

Richard H has created a flyer for the event. If anyone wants to share it, please do.

Thanks

Andy.

Have got the go ahead from Amber Valley to use the Parks Nature reserve, so its all go. Race HQ will be the Early Years Centre on Alder Road. Toilets will be available there. If the weather is dry, any registrations, number collections will be outside on the field.
Ideally parking will be in the market place car park, which would give a lovely warm up through the parks.
Just trying to sort out a pre-entry form which will, hopefully, be available shortly/very shortly/imminently.

This is the proposed route for the Parks Life race.
A loop of the Parks, exiting on Mill lane, up to Sandbed Rec, a quick descent before climbing up again this time to Bargate Rec and then return to the Parks via Wildersley Farm.
Just over 7k

Page for the Parks Life race on 12th May 2022. Map to follow shortly.